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by the inquest
"Arguments on their nature are refuted by those who return to shore, wide-eyed with tales of their savagery."
All Moirans are woken to the sounds of the ship coming to a rather grating halt some time in the early morning cycle. It’s no faster or slower than any other stop, but it is unexpected as the captains didn’t mention an upcoming disembarkment. Shortly after, a message is sent to every MID:Navigation has informed us that we’re approaching bad traveling conditions: an overactive star. Instead of stopping on Liant El, we’ll be docking here on Ceta. Please exercise caution while gathering supplies and during excursions. Follow their safety guidelines. If the chance allows, we’ll also be signing new crew on the planet. Please greet them first and show them to the ship. Thank you. The Ingress has pulled you in. Your body experiences several sensations at once: being pushed forward as if a hand is resting on your back, momentary and startling blindness, a gentle ringing in your head. You have difficulty discerning whether it is hot or cold, but where you have been prodded is noticeably warmer than the rest of you. Some may suffer from dizziness while others are perfectly fine. Once equilibrium has been reestablished, you will notice you are standing on a long platform and that the room is filled with a soft cerulean light. It's slightly humid and dark despite the glow around you, and nothing is familiar.
For those few who come through Ceta's Ingress, there will be crew of the Moira there to greet you. They tell you of the Ingress, how it is broken, even on this planet, and that the ship is headed back to the origin of this technology. This planet’s Ingress is set precariously atop a floating rock formation, the only way from one area to the next is on small air-propelled boats. Crew members will guide everyone back to the Moira and take them to the Medbay; contracts will be signed posthaste.
WELCOME TO CETA
At first glance, Ceta seems mostly inhabitable, and that's because it is. The atmosphere around the planet is surprisingly thick in most places, sometimes thin in others, and without some way to filter the air, it is mostly unbreathable; it's a giant gas planet, its core made of various molten metals and the atmosphere a mix of oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrous. Ceta's gravity is also uneven, meaning that some areas will have stronger focal points than others. The terrain, when it is visible, appears rather rocky—hardly the best conditions for life and stable living. What's more unusual, however, is that despite this fact, there is, indeed, a small populace "living" among the mist and clouds, but it's clear they do not live here year-round. It's hunting season, and they are there for the bounty.
These visitors have built small platforms that are hooked together by ropes and swinging bridges, which they call "temporaries". Unstable buildings are rare, dangerous, and spread out over these temporaries to prevent damage or accidents. The temporaries float along, swaying and shifting with the planet’s atmosphere, and posted at every point of entry and all open surfaces are a particular set of rules that everyone must abide by. They are written in dark ink and large block letters so that all passing by will stop and read them:
NO FIRE. Flammables, ignition sources, matches, lighters, and anything that creates a spark is prohibited. The atmosphere has higher levels of hydrogen, and the smallest spark will create a problem.
AIR BREATHABILITY. Monitor your vitals. Wear masks or re-breathers if needed.
WATCH THE EDGE. All walkways are the only thing from you and falling. Be cautious and watch your step. These signs should be given their due attention. The edge is just that: the end of where it is safe to walk. If a wooden plank gives way beneath your feet, you will plummet through hundred of miles of atmosphere before hitting the planet’s thin surface. The captains reiterate that crew should be careful and stick to the main temporaries, gather supplies, visit at their leisure, and then go back to the ship.
☄ IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE!The organisms that have evolved on this planet are unintelligent—a fact that is told to you by the other visitors. As there is no solid materials or ways for them to interact with their environments, these giants float along within the atmosphere, though it appears that they are flying when they are merely navigating through. They travel in groups of three or more and sometimes come close to the outskirts of the temporaries. Because there is an invisible filtration dome around the temporaries, this allows the creatures to pass through without harm and return again into the mist as they please. They are difficult to see at night and are rather skittish in the presence of sudden light.
☄ @ THE MUSEUM Every evening when work is done, artificial light sources illuminate the streets of the temporaries. There is one bar, if you can actually call it that, but the main attraction is a museum. The support structure appears to be made out of the skeletal system of the giants that "swim" and live on Ceta, and though the outside seems rather unassuming, the inside is not for the faint of heart. As it's considered informative, there are displays of the internal structures and functions of the very creatures that seem harmless and as unintelligent as the visitors claim. There are sections of the museum dedicated to their anatomy and what makes them so valuable: inside their air sacs, which is what gives the illusion to flying through the atmosphere, is a mineral that, when harvested, attunes and sharpens the senses so that brain capacity and function excel over one-hundred percent efficiency. Likewise, aside from these informative areas, there is also a history of how and when the visitors began to hunt them for this valuable, unnamed resource.
☄ HARVEST SEASON Are you looking for work? Or perhaps you're bored with your duties aboard the Moira and prefer to see just what it is these visitors do during the day? Hunters will often pay for menial labor to help with the killing and retrieval of the giants of Ceta. It is by day, not by hour, and once aboard one of the many ships, you will be put to work handling equipment or being on the lookout for "signs" of the creatures. Once they've been spotted, the real work isn't in capturing them or even trying to subdue them—though they give a good fight. It's in the harvest, done below deck once they have been safely brought into the ship's cargo areas by the tethers, that can get quite gruesome. As a defense mechanism, cutting into the skin creates a rather noxious emission that can cause disorientation, hallucinations, or unconsciousness. Worst case scenarios can often result in death.
☄ WORD LIMITS As things are beginning to wind up (or down), something seems to have gotten into the MID systems and caused a malfunction. On the morning of 03.13, it suddenly becomes clear that communicating with others who are not from the same universe or similar timelines seems very difficult. Understanding each other becomes rather hopeless as the day continues, and these repercussions can be felt across the entire ship. The Captains send out another MID message that appears as a jumble of unusual letters and symbols. However, there is one word that can be read by everyone and (hopefully) understood: RATCHET. Figuring out this problem shouldn't take long if everyone can leap the language barriers and work together.
( ooc; All New Arrivals: you have the choice of coming through the Moira's Ingress OR Ceta's Ingress. For questions, go here. Please comment to activity check to receive new ranks (if applicable)! )
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hownkai) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thisavrou_log2016-03-01 02:40 pm
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[ River picks her way along the temporaries in clothes that make her a small bright point in the ever present fog of the planet. She ignores the hunters, side stepping them when they pass by or call offers of work from the side of their boats. That isn't what interests her now.
She picks a meandering path along the walkways, her eyes not focused ahead of her but somewhere down and below the path she's on.
Finally, on the far edge of one of the paths, she stops. Toes to the very edge as she bends over to stare into the deep fog. Dangerously close to the edge, really. ]
Hello?
[ For a moment there's nothing, just the creak of the temporaries and the sigh of the wind. But that changes in an instant when there's a sudden jolt to the structure that sends River off her feet. It's only by luck that she grips the rail as she watches an adolescent whale fly up and back out into the mists. As all this happens, River starts to laugh. It's a sound full of delight with nothing to acknowledge how close she came to falling. She looks back at whoever is near and says breathlessly. ]
They're singing.
[ Kipos - Undergarden ]
[ It wasn't ever something she intended to become a habit, going down to the altar full of candles in the undergarden. But somehow, everything week, she ended up stopping to light a series of candles. It wasn't religious. Her relationship to whatever god the Shepherd took his faith from was complicated. Metaphors could only take you so far after all.
All the same, she lights a candle for all the people she carries and repeats their names to herself. Shepherd Book. Wash. Mr Universe. The nameless ones who all laid down. The ones who wouldn't.
Another candle is lit for Serenity. For the crew she hasn't seen in three months. There's a hole in her chest where she misses them. Even Jayne. The 'verse is big and black and she feels small. But at least when she lights the candles she can prove that it hasn't taken them away from her. ]
I haven't forgotten. I won't. Not yet.
[ Wildcard ]
[ Feel free to hit River up anywhere on the ship! ]
Temporaries
You okay?
[He has to ask, though he's looking out to where the creature had disappeared instead of at her.]
Singing, huh?
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They're happy so they sing, loud and silent. They don't know that someone wants to hurt them.
They don't deserve it.
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[He says and then winces, because duh. Obviously.]
I don't think most animals do. You know, before they get sent off to the factories. They're more innocent than that. Sucks, right? When you think about what really happens.
You might not want to swing by the museum, if this bothers you.
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[ She's pretty sure they wouldn't like it if someone came along and decided their ears were valuable to someone else, but no one ever liked that argument.
River rises up finally as the last strains of music fade into the mist and looks over at Peter. ]
I'm River.
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[He says it quietly, feeling a little bad for the girl that she feels so strongly. He really hopes she takes his advice and avoids the museum.
When she mentions her name, his frown flips to a smile. So this was the girl Wanda claimed to love so much.]
River? Well, well. I was wondering when I'd get to run into you. Wanda's very fond of you, you know.
[He holds out a hand.]
I'm her brother, Peter.
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You're special, like she is?
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Ceta
She watches River with concern, ready to catch her if she needs to...and then there's the whale.
Wanda can't help it. She ought to know better than to brush against a strange creature's mind, especially after what happened with Ploiatos, but after all of the assurances that they were harmless...
The whale is hard to read beyond the surface song, but it's beautiful. For a moment Wanda feels like the entire world must be deaf not to hear it, to want to hurt this creature, but River's laughter brings her back.]
It's...different. But I like it.
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They aren't singing for us. It's for them.
[ She leans over the bar again, ignoring the pounding of her heart to try and see if any other whales are near. She trusts Wanda to grab her if it looks like she might fall. ]
I can't hear them anymore, I want to know if they sound different.
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Maybe they'll come back.
[There's not a tour boat, unfortunately, not unless they stole one and repurposed it. Wanda's not sure enough of her flying abilities to actually go out there, much less try to take someone with her.]
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[ Her gaze tracks back to the hunting boats in the distance. They still reek of the memory of violence and she could feel their greed when she passed them by following the whale's song. ]
But they shouldn't. Not for a long time.
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[It doesn't matter where they go, Wanda thinks. Maybe there are things living on the planet's surface, but surely nothing that can actually hurt them. They probably had no concept of fear until the hunters came.
Wanda thinks of other things - dragging an empty museum off the cliff, systematically disabling all of the boats - but it's just empty fantasy. How could it help if more would just come after they leave?]
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It's too profitable for them. They're stubborn and their ears are stopped up.
They need something else to put them off.
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ceta;
He sees River stumble and even though she catches herself, the very motion of it all makes him feel dizzy. He approaches her calmly, quietly, to ensure that she is indeed okay- ready to summon a gust of wind to pick her up and deposit her back if needs be. Until she speaks and his expression turns quizzical, searching.]
They are? [He frowns.] I don't hear it.
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[ It isn't something that can be described with words, the deafening inhuman song she heard ringing in her mind. It carried the heart of the whale in it, the curiosity of the strange thing it nudged. It doesn't know what they're doing there and its form is already fading into the mist. The song fades as it does. ]
Most people go their whole lives with their ears closed, though. It's not your fault.
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She she draws even with Eric, she looks at him with curious eyes. ]
Do you, really?
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That's too bad, you miss so much that way.
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[ But she doesn't back away from the edge just yet, her eyes are glued on the whale vanishing into the distance. Only once it's gone does she look back, and up, at Jasper. ]
They don't interest you?
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... Not really. [Her eyes narrow slightly as she looks back at River, the expression of someone who's curious but can anticipate she's going to be faintly irritated by the answer. She asks anyway.] What's interesting about them?
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Whales don't usually fly. Not above water, anyways. Nothing else like it in the 'verse and they cut them open to use them up. They make themselves blind to wonder.
Folk don't fly so they cut their wings away so they can stop dreaming about it.
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[ She shrugs. ]
Seems rude to do it to something else just because they can't talk back.
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